The two companies signed a contract under which IHG will manage six new upcoming hotels of the Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express brand around the country.

“These six hotels add momentum to our India pipeline, which now stands at 45 hotels. Close to 70 percent of this pipeline is with the Holiday Inn brand,” said Jan Smits, managing director, IHG Asia Australasia.

The six hotels are scheduled to come up between 2013-15 at Noida, Indore, Jaipur, Kochi and Patna and will have at least 150-200 rooms each.

“India’s need for world-class hotels consistent with rapid economic growth make this an opportune time for us to expand our hospitality portfolio,” said Anil Kumar Sharma, Amarpali chairman, on the group’s foray into the hospitality sector.

According to the company, the new brand of hotels is especially targeted at the growing middle class of the country.

“The limited service type is the specialty of this hotel brand. We expect to tap into the growing numbers of middle class travellers, with international quality and standard hotel at an excellent price,” said Sharma.

A single room would cost anywhere up to Rs.3,000-Rs.3,500 a night, he said.

IHG is the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms. Currently, it operates 12 hotels in India and plans to triple its properties by 2015.